Why?
by Malakia
Summary: 3-part one-shot. People often wonder why soldiers do what they do, especially when you are apart of NEST. This is also posted under Transformers in Cartoons under "Soldier of Freedom".
1. Living

**Hey y'all! First off I would like to thank you for taking the time and reading this story; it is going to be short and I don't expect it to do well because it is OC centric. Anyway, the inspiration for this piece was given to me by listening to "American Soldier" by Toby Keith and it kinda got me thinking about the soldiers of NEST and why they do what they do. I'm kinda going out of my comfort zone here, no romance! D: *le gasps* And just to let you all know, the entire story is already written out, I just have to type it up and post it. **

**I hope you all like it! And critics are GREATLY appericated. (that means R AND R)**

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"You know, smoking is going to kill you one day." Kelly took a long drag of her cigarette before puffing out the smoke as she looked over at a group of men gathered around a table, playing poker.

"It calms me," she countered. "How can it be so bad if it calms me?" She took another puff as a man to the right of the table snorted.

"I'm just saying," he said. "That in the long run it will kill you."

"Give it up Tim," another man said, sitting across from him. He passed a card to the man next to him and waited for a new one, continuing, "You know this is the one thing that she won't budge on. Leave her and her cigarettes alone. As long as she not near us when she smokes, I'm fine." Kelly smiled as Tim frowned.

"See?" she said. "Why can't you be understanding like Andrew and Jason?"

"Hey now, leave me out of this," the last man said. "I didn't say a word, so don't start." Kelly laughed before continuing to smoke her cigarette and looking out at the hustle and bustle of NEST headquarters.

The small group og four was currently off duty, so they were trying to have a little bit of semblance of "normal" life. Today, it involved a game of poker while sitting outside the Mess Hall.

Once finished with her cigarette, Kelly returned to the table to watch the rest of the game. "So you excited about goin' home?" Jason asked her as she sat down. Kelly smiled at the African American.

"Of course!" she said happily. In three days Kelly was going on leave to visit her family whom she hadn't seen for some months now. "I can't wait to see my niece. She's gotten so big! Here let me show you."

"Oh Lord," Andrew said exasperatedly "She's getting the pictures." Kelly playfully glared at him before kicking him from under the table. She then reached into her back pocket to pull out her wallet.

She flipped it open and was greeted with a family photo of her, her mother, father, and sister as well as her sister's husband and Kelly's six-year-old niece. It was taken the last time she was home, with her in her military dress uniform while everyone else was dressed in their Sunday best. She looked at the picture fondly before handing it to Andrew.

Andrew rolled his eyes taking it and handing it immediately to Jason, muttering, "I've seen it plenty of times now." Kelly just glared at him as she felt her cheeks heat up. It was true, she shoed off her family photos a lot but it was only because she loved them and wanted everyone to know.

Jason took the wallet, giving the photo a quick glance out of politeness, before handing it to Tim. "My daughters are cuter," he said with a sly smile as he looked at her. She heard the teasing note in Jason's voice, so didn't say anything but smiled at him instead.

"You know, you look nothing like your sister," Tim said, making her look over at him. He was holding out the wallet towards her with a contemplative look on his face.

"Yeah, that's what everyone says," she said, taking the wallet back and putting it in her back pocket again. "And quit looking at me like that. You look like Ratchet after Epps tired to explain basketball to him in medical terms." Everyone around the table busted out laughing at the memory. There was certainly never a dull moment when it came to the Autobots, and even though they had been on Earth for many years, they still didn't understand some "Earthen" concepts.

It was only made more entertaining when more Autobots joined them on Earth. It was a game for some soldiers to try and make Prowl's CPU crash; many avoided Wheeljack and his experiments; Sunstreaker, Sideswipes twin, certainly had his own "quirks" but when he got together with his twin, dangerous pranks usually followed, and Lord help you if those two got together with Skids and Mudflap. No one really has seen Red Alert, the Autobot preferring to be locked in the security room most the day. Blurr and Bluestreak could make your head hurt for days with their chatter; Hound was usually running around base trying to help others or finding a way to "keep his tracking skills in check" (or so he says); Mirage was also rarely seen but he wasn't hard to find (if he let you find him), mostly he could be found going through the internet looking up all sorts of things. The newest member, Cliffjumper, had been assigned as Mikaela's guardian and at first, it had been a rocky beginning with those two but now, they had seemed to come to an understanding (or so everyone on base heard).

"Woo-hoo!" Andrew yelled, drawing Kelly out of her thoughs. She looked to see they had laid their cards down with Andrew having the highest hand with a Royal Flush. Greedily, he gathered up the chips in the center of the table, while Tim and Jason had defeated looks on their faces. Time took the cards from around the table and began shuffling the deck for the next round. "You wanna join?" he asked Kelly.

"Sure, why not?" she said, straightening up in her chair.

"Oh goodie More money for me then," Andrew said with a cheeky smile. Rena glared at him while Jason handed her some spare chips. Tim continued shuffling, a look of up most concentration on his face. Suddenly though, he stopped shuffling and looked at everyone, asking,

"Hey guys, I know this will be an odd question, but… why did you join the military?" Everyone stopped what they were done, looking over at him as if he'd grown a second head. Tim's mind was very strange thing to them all, always thinking philosophically.

"What kind of question is that?" Andrew asked.

"A good one," Tim answered defensively. "We've been a team for how many years and none of us know how or why we joined the military."

"He has a point," Jason said.

"He always has a point!" Andrew countered. "Doesn't mean we have to listen to it!"

"Jeez, Andrew, calm down," Kelly said. "It was just a question; don't get so defensive."

"Well excuuuuse me!" Andrew huffed.

"Yeah your excused," Jason said. "I for one think it's a good question. I'll answer your question Tim." Everyone looked at him intently as a serious expression cam over his face.

"Honestly, I joined the military for its benefits. By the time I was eighteen, I had a kid and a fiancé; I needed some way to earn money and it wasn't going to be through some dead beat job.

"Then the opportunity to join the Marines came along and they told me what they had to offer and I jumped on board.

"Been with the Marines for fifteen years, and I don't regret a single day of it; got my benefits and then some." He smiled triumphantly, like a man who was king of the world, as he leaned back in his chair.

"Huh," Andrew said. "And yet on your salary, you have enough to raise TWO kids now."

"We get by," Jason said. "So what's you story? Why did you join Good Old Uncle Sam's military?" Andrew visibly stiffened in his chair, looking like a scared animal ready to lash out. "Well?" Jason prompted.

"Hey, you don't have to answer if you don't want too," Kelly said hastily. "It's personal; we understand." She sent the other two a look, clearly stating to keep their mouths shut.

"That's right," Tim said hurriedly, understanding. "You don't have to talk about it; it was just a question." After a tense couple of minutes, Andrew slowly relaxed. Everyone smiled at him as he glared over at Tim.

"So since it is YOUR question, why did you join the military?" Andrew asked.

"Me? Well, I wanted to get more out of life. I felt like college wasn't for me but I still wanted to DO something. I heard the military had a lot to offer, so I checked it out.

"I did a lot of research and ended up choosing the Marines. I gotta admit it was hard at times but with perks like these," he waved his outward to the base. "I'm not about to complain.

"Heh, sounds like every typical teen that joins the marines," Andrew said.

"Hey now! I'm happy with my choice," Tim said. "And unlike other teens, I didn't call it quits. But that was years ago…," Jason chuckled, while Andrew snorted. Kelly just smiled, thinking, 'Ah… to be young again.'

Tim then looked over at her and asked, "What about you? Why did you join?" Kelly's smile dropped as she tried to figure out how to voice her words.

"Actually… I didn't really WANT to join…. I never really has a reason; it was just the 'cool' thing to do at my high school…."

"So wait, you joined just because it was the 'it' thing to do?" Jason asked in surprise.

"Well yeah," Kelly said a little embarrassed. "Now I realize it was stupid but back then I just wanted to be part of the crowd."

"Why didn't you quit when you had the chance?" Tim asked.

"What could I do? I had no real job skills and I honestly didn't want to go back to college at my age, so I stayed."

"What kept you motivated?" Tim asked.

"I don't know. Maybe because I thought I was doing something good? I honestly can't recall. Those years were a blur to me; I was just… existing, I guess you could say. It wasn't until I came here that I actually found out what I was fighting for."

"Really?" Andrew asked generally surprised.

"Yeah," Kelly said, smiling again.

"What is it?" Jason asked. Kelly could feel her face becoming hot as she explained embarrassedly,

"I know that it seems very childish but… freedom. Freedom for everyone gives me a reason to do what I do." Everyone was quiet for a moment or two when suddenly they busted out laughing. "What!" Kelly demanded indignantly.

"You sound like Big Buddha!" Jason laughed, referring to Optimus Prime. "He is ALWAYS talking about stuff like that."

"He is my inspiration," Kelly admitted, over their laughs. "He made me see how important freedom is!" That seemed to calm the men down a little, though they were still smirking and chuckling here and there.

"Why don't you laugh when Optimus speaks about freedom?" she scoffed angrily.

"YOU try arguing with like a 50 foot tall sentient robot," Tim said. "I highly doubt it will end pleasantly."

"Especially, if it's Ironhide you are arguing with," Andrew snickered. "I swear, he just itchin' to blow the Twins head off, one of these days."

"Or anyone's in general," Jason added. "Now since we answered the question, I say let's get on with out game."

Time nodded and again gathered the cards but immediately stopped as the unexpected noises of an alarm went through the base.

"Well damn," Andrew whined. "Had to happen just as I was winnin'."

"Come on kiddies," Jason chuckled. "Enough games, we got a job to do." The air shifting to a serious one, everyone nodded and stood, leaving everything where it was, expecting to come back soon. They then ran off to a nearby hanger to prepare for yet another day of battle.


	2. Dieing

**Sorry forgot to add (I think in the first half): I no own Transformers**

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Kelly clamped her jaw shut, to stop the vibrations in her head, as she and her teammates, traveling in the back of a GMC Topkick truck, traveled over the sandy dunes of Iraq. It was the middle of the night, with the stars, the half moon, and the headlights from the various vehicles following them, offering the only source to see by. Everyone in the truck was silent, feeling tense as they moved further to the contact point.

Andrew sat next to her, nervously readjusting his grip on his gun. "You know," he whispered quietly enough just for her to hear. "When I joined the military, this isn't really what I expected."

"I don't think any of us did," Kelly replied back to him with a smile. He looked down at her with a serious expression, making her wonder what he was thinking. He then gave her an odd little smile saying,

"It's kinda funny though. I joined the military to get away from something and I end up stumbling onto something much bigger than I can ever imagine." Kelly looked at him oddly causing him to shake his head. "Sorry, was thinking about the question Tim asked. Maybe I'll tell you guys when we get back to base."

"We'd love to here it," Kelly replied supportively. Andrew just smiled and raised his fist. Kelly raised her own and tapped them together just as the truck came to a stop.

"We're here," came a disembodied voice, leaving to deftly get out. The other vehicles stopped as well as Kelly's team moved out from behind the GMC, cautiously moving forward with guns raised.

Carefully they climbed up the last dune, just enough to peek over the top. Unlike most others, the team wasn't exactly impressed with the large, chard crater in the ground. They scanned the area at first for any abnormal shapes and when they say nothing, the team captain pointed at Tim, indicating for him to come over to the captain's position. Like a good soldier Tim did, in his hand an odd device that indicated levels of radiation.

He raised the device and the team waited for a moment before Tim came back with a verdict. "It's still there Sir," Time whispered harshly. The captain nodded and gave the "go" to move in.

Quickly, the team moved in, the other teams following as they flanked them on either side. Kelly vaguely heard the shifting of metal behind her but ignored it since she knew it was the Autobots.

Her teammates slowly approached the outer rim of the crater before stopping. A large, oval structure was in the center, perfectly still, with a few small flames still going around it. 'Shouldn't it have attacked us now?' Kelly thought. 'Or is it dead?'

"It's not here anymore," a gravely voice said from behind her. She jumped a little and quickly spun around and looked up to see Optimus, Ironhide, Ratchet, and Hound looking at the crater.

"There are some old ruins not far from here," Ironhide said, looking to the east. "Maybe they went there."

"Hound, do you have a designation?" Opitmus asked, looking at the tracker.

"Definitely Decepticon," Hound said, scanning the pod. "Unsure of who was in it though." Opitmus 'hmmm'ed in acknowledgement as he nodded before he looked down at the humans.

"Captains, take your teams to the ruins. Be careful though."

"Sir, yes Sir," the captains responded before all the Autobots transformed into their vehicle modes. Quickly, everyone gathered onto them before they all took off in the direction Ironhide had indicated.

It was a little while later they stopped a few yards away, letting everyone off. The same procedure as before happened again but this time the teams approached the 'ruins'- an abandoned village- a little more cautiously.

Still, they picked up no radiation signals as they entered the village. "Maybe they left," Kelly heard Tim say as they checked another corner.

"Don't be ridiculous," she heard Andrew sneer. "It's a Decepticon, and yeah, though they maybe cowards, they still are stupid enough to attack us."

"Will you both shut your mouths?" Jason hissed. "Focus!" They grew quiet as they drifted farther into the village.

All was quiet, a little too quiet, but that was to be expected. Still, it was a little unnerving and even more so when reports came in that the enemy was no where to be seen. Suddenly, Optimus' voice cut through the chatter saying,

"Everyone, please meet in the center of town. We'll discuss a new plan there." Everyone around Kelly gave each other questioning looks, confused about the command. But it was Optimus so no one questioned the order and they slowly made their way back to the middle of town.

The town's center was just simply round with a (most likely dry) well. A few teams were already there, discussing quietly near the well. A few men and women stood on the out rim of the circle, where Kelly, Andrew, Tim, and Jason stood as the rest of their team moved forward.

"Why do you think Big Buddha wanted to meet here?" Tim asked.

"He has his reasons," was all Jason said. "We need to regroup and he said we needed to think of a new plan."

"If that's the case then, where is he?" Kelly asked.

"Opitmus, Sir. Why are you all the way over there?" Everyone looked to see one of the captains looking off in the distance and when everyone followed his gaze they could see all the Autobots standing far off from the village.

"Didn't you request we meet here?" Kelly, as well as everyone else, heard on the open comlink.

"…No Sir."

"I got a bad feeling about this," Time said, voicing everyone's concerns. Kelly felt the ground shift under her feet causing her to look down in curiosity.

Just as she did, the ground beneath her suddenly dropped a few inches and she stumbled a bit, crying out in surprise. She looked up to see that the center of the circle sunk in and where the well once was, a gaping hole now was there. "It's a trap! RUN!" someone shouted as everyone tried to move to the buildings for shelter.

That was when all Hell broke loose.

Gun shots, seemingly coming from all directions, started firing off in their direction. Being near to the buildings, Kelly, Andrew, Tim, and Jason were able to hide themselves between two crumbling walls. Unfortunately, others were not so lucky as their dieing screams went out into the night. "Shit!" Andrew yelled, peeking out from one side of the wall only to get fired at. Quickly he ducked and before taking a fighting position and raising his weapon, shooting at the unseen enemy. "We're pinned down!"

No one responded to him as Jason joined him to help make an escape route, while Tim and Kelly started shooting out from behind the other wall at the buildings to help those you had not yet found shelters.

In the midst of the chaos, no one noticed the ground in the center of the circle begin sinking lower until some soldiers started going backwards and falling into the hole. "Holy shit!" Kelly yelled. "Guys we got trouble!"

Andrew and Jason took cover and looked to see what Tim and Kelly were looking at. The hole suddenly shifted into a small pile of sand that was developing into a bigger one by the second. A loud roar emitted through the air as a giant, metal humanoid figure emerged, mixing with the screams of the soldiers screams that the ground had swallowed as they went flying into the air.

"Stay low! Stay low!" someone yelled over the comlink. Soldiers continued fighting though, shooting at the monstrous being. The Decepticon just smiled at them as its arms transformed into cannons and started firing at them.

"Fuck!" she heard Andrew say as Kelly felt herself being pulled to the ground just as one of the projectiles blew up over head. Once the air settled, Kelly brushed off the debris from her face before getting up again to fire at the Decepticon.

Just as she got up to do so, Ironhide suddenly appeared and tackled the Decepticon to the ground. He started to beat at it with his fists when suddenly something came flying through the air and struck him in the forearm. He cried out and looked to see a long metal shard embedded in his arm.

The momentary lapse gave the Decepticon below him enough time to raise one of his cannons and blast Ironhide in the chest and away from it.

"Ironhide!" Optimus yelled coming up as the weapon specialist cried out again, backing away from the enemy. New shards suddenly filled the air, attacking the Autobots and humans from every direction. "Ratchet! Ironhide! Protect the humans!" Optimus yelled as he blasted some shards out of the air. "Hound!"

"On it!" Hound replied. Kelly was unsure of what that mean, but refocused her attention back on the big Decepticon, and started helping other soldiers hold it off from attacking. She heard three cannon shots go off a moment later and they were quickly followed by three screeching noises. Kelly was momentarily stunned when three more, smaller Decepticons gathered around the bigger one and began clinging to its armor. One of them twirled a circular device on one of its arms, showing off the shards in the moonlight.

"Keep firing!" someone yelled, making her realize that she and a few others had stopped. With new vigor, she raised her gun, standing from her hiding spot for a better shot, and continued to fire. She knew that this left her in a very vulnerable position but she wasn't about to lay low and lose this fight; not for what was at stack. The other soldiers seemed to have the same idea, as they too stood and continued on.

The fire fight lasted for several minutes, with no side seeming to win. The Autobots and humans were pushing the Decepticons back but with it cannons and the three smaller Decepticons, it was taking a toll on the humans as they lost man after man.

"Fall back!" Kelly turned her head to see who issued the order when she suddenly heard the whizzing noise of a shard flying through the air near her. Quickly, she looked back around to see where it would land only to feel something strike her chest and send her flying backwards in the wall.

Momentarily stunned, the pain didn't even register until she looked down to see a metal shard embedded in the center of her chest. She was still standing so the shard had gone straight through and was no supporting her wait as it pinned it her to the wall.

"Kelly!" someone yelled. Kelly looked up to see Tim, Andrew, and Jason looking at her with a mix between horror struck and panicked faces as they gathered around her. Their voices were distant to her ears as time itself seemed to slow down around her. She thought she coughed because there was a sudden jerk from her head and she developed a metallic taste in her mouth that wasn't there before.

"Hold on!" came Andrew's distant voice just as an explosion happened near them. They all ducked, save Kelly, and Jason reached out before pulling Andrew away from her.

"Come on!" he yelled, a pained expression on his face as he looked at Kelly. Andrew struggled in his, and soon Tim's, grasp as they pulled him farther away and Andrew yelled something that now fell to Kelly's deaf ears. But the looks on all their faces was enough to tell her what was happening to her.

'I'm dieing,' she thought as her head jerked again and more metallic taste entered her mouth. 'Blood,' she reminded herself, as she saw another explosion happen.

It was a harsh and cruel truth; she was as good as dead and now her friends had to save themselves. She opened her mouth to tell them to hurry only to have a sudden coughing fit. As she felt the blood run down her chin, she looked up again to see the outer edges of her vision were black and slowly creeping inward to swallow the rest of her eyesight.

'NO!' she thought as tears came to her eyes as, holding on long enough, she watched her friends retreating to the safety of the other buildings. 'Please…,' she thought desperately, as if to reach her lasts thoughts to them. 'Please… fight… for me… for… freedom….'

The world around her suddenly grew distant and began to tilt causing her to put her head down to stop the spinning. She was growing cold and tired, and she was fighting a losing fight as she fought against having her eyes close.

Finally though, she succumbed to her bodies desires and let her eyes shut before feeling her mind suddenly growing numb leading her off into a dark, blissful abyss….

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**The four Decepticons are mine and I would really like some feed back on the fight scene. Still trying to get used to writing them out.**


	3. Remembering

Standing at a distance, Optimus watched as the burial ceremony finally ended. In his human holoform, he stood under a tree to protect him from the light drizzle, patiently wating as the crowd dispersed around a particular grave. Finally, only one man stood under a canopy, his back away from Optimus, standing next to a coffin.

Optimus stood in his spot for a little longer, letting the man have his private time until he would leave, but it soon became apparent that the individual was not going to leave.

Apprehensively, Optimus left his spot and slowly made his way over to the grave site.

Many years ago, at the beginning of when NEST was formed, Optimus found himself going off alone and visiting the soldiers' graves who served along side him, whether he knew them or not. It was his way of saying a final 'Thank you' and tribute to them for having put their lives down for a war that was not of their making. Over the years, others learned of his odd little tradition and sometimes joined him, but most of the time he went alone, giving him time not only to honor the fallen soldiers but also to have sometime to himself and think.

Coming forward into the canopy, Optimus came to a stop when he stood next to the man, staring down at the finely polished coffin. Neither of them spoke for a moment but finally then man next to him said, "Was wondering when you'd come over." Optimus cast a side glance at the man before slowly nodding his head, unsure of what to say. Again they grew silent, just standing there and looking at the coffin.

"I can't remember you at the wake," the man said, again breaking the silence. "Are you a friend of my daughter?"

'Ah…,' Optimus thought, realizing why not why the man was standing here. Had he not trained himself, Optimus would have winced in sympathy for the man after he pulled up this particular soldier's records in his processor. She was the oldest and, from studying the human race, Optimus learned that families particularly favored the oldest.

"No Sir," Optimus said, calmly. "I didn't know her personally but she served under me." Not a total lie, since he had seen her among the soldiers that went with him on missions, but not the total truth either.

"Oh…." The two beings again grew silent.

"You know… when my daughter first joined the marines… she didn't really want to," the man said, causing Optimus to look over at him in surprise. The man wasn't even paying attention to him, instead his focus solely on the coffin with sad, bitter eyes. "But then… she got this new order and… something changed in her….

"She often spoke of a CO she had, who, as she put it, gave her a reason to continue to fight for the marines…. He often spoke of freedom for everyone; something I don't really understand. I mean, aren't we fighting in the Middle East for their freedom? What's the difference?...

I told her that one; she just smiled and laughed, saying that one day I would hopefully understand…." The man's hands were clamped tightly in front of him, but Optimus could still see the mild shake in them. Optimus didn't say anything though, unsure of how to comfort this grieving man. His spark was warm with the fact that his message about how freedom is the right of all sentient beings, but he highly doubted that the man next to him wanted to hear how his daughter died for that. Maybe one day, the man would understand, but not now; now all he knew was pain from losing his oldest.

"Sir," the man said, drawing Optimus from his thoughts. "Have you lost many men in your lifetime?" Optimus recalled all the mechs and femmes who had served and died under his command.

"Yes Sir," he replied, his voice thick with pain at the memories.

"Does the pain… ever go away?" Optimus tore his eyes away from the coffin again and looked to see the man staring at him with desperate eyes, as if Optimus' next words would determine if he would live or die. The man wanted honesty though as Optimus looked closely into his eyes, not comfort.

"No," Optimus said quietly and truthfully. The man before him seemed to deflate, like his world had been crushed. "But, with time, and a little bit of help, it can lesson," Optimus added. The man seemed to contemplate his words sadly, before finally nodding. He then wished Optimus a hasty 'Good-bye' before leaving Optimus alone with the casket.

Optimus watched as the man got into the back of a car before it drove off. He then refocused his attention back onto the casket, seeing his reflection on its glazed surface. His eyes traveled farther upwards until they rested on the standing headstone. Reading it, his eyes softened slightly before he looked back at the coffin.

Then, slowly, he raised his hand and placed it on the cool surface. "Thank you," he whispered, trying to transfer his words into the coffin, hoping that wherever her spirit was that she could hear him. He then carefully removed his hand and turned away.

After making sure there were no humans nearby, he shut off his holoform and a little while later, somewhere off in the distance, you could hear the sound of a Peterbilt truck driving away. Optimus quickly made his way back to base but he gave one last thought to the soldier's grave as he thought of her tombstone:

_Kelly Jene McCallen_

_January 24, 1978- November 15, 2010_

_Gone but Never Forgotten Our_

_Soldier of Freedom_

_

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**The End**


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